Residents and management at Oak Hollow Apartments in Rock Hill were outraged at the theft and vandalism of the American flag in front of the complex. Management had a new pole and flag installed so all can be proud and see it fly again.
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Residents and management at Oak Hollow Apartments in Rock Hill were outraged at the theft and vandalism of the American flag in front of the complex. Management had a new pole and flag installed so all can be proud and see it fly again.
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ROCK HILL

Vandals, brigands, and villains take note: Don’t mess with the patriotic people at Oak Hollow Apartments.

Many residents wanted the public display of the flag rebuilt. So the complex owners hired a company to dig up the concrete foundation of the old pole, install a new one. Then they bought a brand new American Flag.

The cost was over $500 for the flag pole alone, said Shelly Risk, manager of the apartments on York Avenue in southern Rock Hill, but cost when it comes to love for country isn’t the issue.

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“What matters is the people here love America and are proud of America,” Risk said. “When someone took the flag ... people who live here were outraged and shocked. There is another word for it. They were mad.”

Some are still mad.

“Nobody has any business cutting down the American flag at these apartments,” said resident John Henry Hemphill. “People need to leave our American flag alone.”

The original flagpole was installed 13 years ago in front of the office for the apartments, and is tended by a Marine Corps veteran. The plot always has flowers and is a beacon for all who live there or drive by.

Resident Larry Strait called what happened to the flag “terrible.”

The America that the flag represents to the people of Oak Hollow Apartments is far stronger than any piece of pipe. This is an apartment complex where residents, neighbors, and Rock Hill police rescued people from a fire in 2013.

No one has been arrested for taking the flag and damaging the flagpole in February. But the flag is flying again on York Avenue and shows that vandals come and go, but patriotism can’t be cut in half and carted off.

“Our flag flies proudly again, for all to see,” Risk said.

Patriotism exists in hearts of people at Oak Hollow Apartments, and is unbreakable.

York County, South Carolina police officers who were shot and wounded in an ambush in January, met with the Winthrop University mens’ basketball team before their game with Longwood and were honored during First Responders Day.